I
Any of about 265 species of familiar garden, lawn, and roadside Plantago of the family Plantaginaceae.
Distinctively, the leaves lack a proper blade. What appears to be a blade is an expanded petiole (leafstalk), with several parallel main veins, emerging at the base of the stalk. Small flowers are borne in spikes or heads atop long leafless stalks. The greater plantain ( P. major ) provides seed spikes for bird food. Ribwort, or English, plantain ( P. lanceolata ) and hoary plantain ( P. media ) are troublesome weeds. Some species have been useful in medicine (e.g., as an ingredient in laxatives).
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Tall plant ( Musa paradisiaca ) of the {{link=banana">banana family that is closely related to the common banana ( M. sapientum ).
Believed to have originated in Southeast Asia, the plantain grows 10–33 ft (3–10 m) tall and has a conical false "trunk" formed by the leaf sheaths of its spirally arranged, long, thin leaves. The green-coloured fruit is larger than that of the banana and contains more starch. Because the starch is maximal before the fruit ripens, the fruit is not eaten raw but is boiled or fried, often with coconut juice or sugar as flavouring. It may also be dried for later use in cooking or ground for use as meal, which can be further refined to a flour. The plantain is a staple food and beer-making crop for East African peoples and is also eaten in the Caribbean and Latin America.